Chapter 10

After five minutes he was ready to leave. After an hour he was climbing the walls. After three hours he was just about to climb out of the window.

"Danny, relax, it'll be okay."

"Then why is it taking so long?!" Danny exclaimed, pausing his pacing for a moment.

"They need to make sure."

"Can't I just go?"

"You can, but you promised me you would get yourself properly checked out," Jack replied calmly.

Danny was just about to reply when the door opened. The faceless man started speaking, but he wasn't listening. He needed to get out of here; he needed to get away from this urban jungle. He watched the doctor leave. "So, can I go?"

"He said you are physically fine, but he wants to run more tests."

Jack held his hands up. "I know, I took the detail, but that's it."

"I'm sorry Jack; it's just, well..."

"It's okay, you don't need to apologise to me," Jack replied calmly. "I'll get the car."

"If it's okay with you, I'll walk."

"Of course," Jack replied nodding. He cast a glance at Martin, hoping he would read his thoughts.

"Hey man," Martin said, reading Jack's thoughts. "Do you mind if I join you? It just feels as though I haven't been off a plane in last few days, I could do with stretching my legs.

"Do you know where you are going?" Martin finally said, after following his friend's relentless pace down some streets and onto the beach.

"Sure," Danny said as he rapidly walked along the beach. "We need to go this way," he said pointing in a random direction.

"Danny wait," Martin said, jogging to catch up with his friend. "Let's at least look at map before we set off."

"But," Danny said, hopping from one to the other nervously.

"If we go the wrong way, and get lost. Well best case, we have to phone him and he picks us up, and you know we'll never hear the end of that. Worse case, Jack reports us missing…." Martin trailed off, and raised his eye brows. He watched and waited for a reaction. Seeing none, he continued. "Man, it's alright."

"I-I, I don't know what's got into me." He looked out to the sea. "I really don't know what's got into me."

"What? Apart from being missing for the last five years?"

"I guess," Danny said hesitantly. "I just want to know what happened and why. Then, then, maybe, I can start moving on."

"That's what we are going to do brother," Martin replied slapping his friend on the back. "I know it's fucked up, but between all of us, we will figure it out."

Danny nodded. "So, have you figured out where we are going?"

"Yup," Martin replied, pulling out his cell phone. "We are here, and we need to go here."

"Phones have seriously moved on, last I remember the iPhone 3 had just been released."

Martin smiled tensely, really realising how much Danny had missed. It wasn't the developments of a stupid cell phone, but world events. Deaths of former world leaders, wars, elections, earthquakes, every event that occurred in the last five years and continued to have wide reaching consequences; all of which Danny didn't know about.

"Please tell me Obama is still President." He watched Martin nod. "I figure that. They've asked me several times and I've never got a funny look."

"I'm sorry."

Danny frowned. "Sorry for what?" he replied.

"For not finding you."

"its okay man, I know you guys looked for me."

"But." Martin paused and stopped walking for moment. "What if we missed something and you could have been found sooner?"

"Man, don't do that to yourself. Yes, sure, you could have missed a piece of information could have found me. But-"He stopped and looked at Martin, seeing in each person the effect of his disappearance had on each of them. "You know was well as I do how difficult it can be to find people. Even when we find them, we can't connect the dots."

"I know, but this time it was different, it was personal."

"What happened?"

"What?"

"What happened during my case?"

"Danny?"

"Martin, I need to know. God knows what has happened to me in the last five years."

Martin nodded, he took a breath. "After we had determined you were missing, we obviously opened a case. It wasn't long before Van Doran threw us off it. Rick's search didn't bring anything and so it was handed to some team in DC.

Flashback

Martin shifted painfully in his chair. "Who are they?" he asked as a group of twenty agents, who he had never seen entered the office.

"I've no idea, but it can't be good," Sam replied, her glaze not leaving Jack's office. He looked drained and defended. "It's got to be about Danny."

"It is," Tom Wilkins, a fellow agent, said sitting next to them. "We've been kicked off the case. They're being some agents from DC."

"Oh for fuck's suck," Martin exclaimed. "All of his chopping and changing isn't going to help Danny. Do they know anything about missing person cases? It's been hundred and forty four hours since Danny went missing, every fucking minute we waste is a minute Danny doesn't have."

"When was the last time you slept? Because you look like shit."

"Have you looked in the mirror recently? You're not exactly the post boy for healthy living right now," Martin sniped back.

"Will you two shut up," Sam exclaimed. "Tom, what's happening? Why were you kicked off the case?"

"Apparently it's too personal or some other crap like that. Fine, but they barely looked at our notes."

"I'm sure they will," Sam reassured.

"No, I don't think they will. We've been working on several theories, one of which is Danny ever made it home. But they seemed to pay more attention to the crappy conspiracy theories! It's such shit! The lead agent is one of those greasy pole career agents. I doubt he's worked missing persons. It's such horseshit! So, yes it's personal! Danny's my friend, I want to able to bring him home, unharmed!"

"You think I want anything different?!"

"No, no man," Tom breathed. "I know he's your friend as well. It's just, fuck, I don't think they running this case well. I think they are looking in the wrong places."

"We've got to trust them," Sam said speaking up.

"Why?" Martin snapped.

"Because right now, they are the only chance Danny has," Sam retorted.

"It doesn't mean we can't fight, we need go find him," Tom almost yelled back.

"Do you think you can think objectively? Because, well, I don't think I can," Sam yelled back.

"I-I," Martin started; he looked at Tom and could see him nodding. "Fine, I can't be objective, he's my best friend. Something has happened to him. Sure, I cannot be objective, but I know something has happened to him." He glance a dirty look over his shoulder at the new agents. "They are going to rid Danny's life apart, and then they'll file a report to say ran away with a cocktail waitress.

"I, we, never gave up." Martin swallowed and looked towards the land. "Of course, you know you still have an open case. You know it turned into a cold case, and the FBI was the laughing stock of the intelligence community. But, we never gave up. We knew you were alive, we knew something had happened to you. I knew wherever your were you couldn't contact us."

"Martin, you have to go."

"What?"

"Man, don't think for a second I don't appreciate what you have done for me, but I can't have you putting your life on hold for me."

"Shouldn't that be my choice?" Martin retorted.

"Man, I know you would be great as a congressman. I know you would be a fuck lot better than any of the shitty politicians we have out there. You need to back for your re-election, and well, win it."

"Danny, you know with what we found, the FBI will have to been involved."

"I know, there are probably other victims out there. "

"It's not going to be easy Danny."

"I know, but." Danny paused and took a breath. He looked towards Midway, and place he barely knew but somehow felt like home. "I've got a lot of stuff to deal with and a hell of a lot to deal with around the corner." He sighed, and rubbed his face. "Man, if you stay, I'll that to worry about, I'll have the fact I ruin my best friend's life over my shoulders."

"You wouldn't," Martin exclaimed.

"I would," Danny said calmly. "You'll stay, and I would do the same if I was in your shoes. But Martin, you have so much to give."

"Man, you know the FBI are going to lay into you. They are, along with Interpol, are going to pretty much interrogate you. Are you sure you want me to leave?"

Danny nodded, continuing to stare out to the sea. He bit his lip. "I'll be alright."

"Are you sure?" Martin asked seriously. "I mean are you really sure?"

"I'm fine Martin," Danny lied. "I'll be okay."

Martin nodded. "Okay, but I don't like it. I know Jack will be there, but still."

"I'll be fine Martin," Danny replied. He sighed, and racked a hand through his hair. "Anyway, we better carry on. We don't want Jack to report us missing."